Tuesday, July 11th, 2023

Starting mileage: 7910, Distance travelled: 38

Miles hiked: 3.3

We decided to let the kids sleep in because Laura had a sore throat last night. They both slept until 10am, a record for both of them. Consequently, we didn’t leave the campground until 11:30. Laura was still a little under the weather with a runny nose. At Jesse’s suggestion, we started the day at Trees of Mystery, an old-school tourist attraction dating back to the 40s that still draws families from around the country. We were greeted by a 3-story-tall Paul Bunyan statue, accompanied, of course, by Babe the blue ox. We got to ramble along suspended bridges and platforms in the redwood canopy like Ewoks in the forest of Endor. Imagine our surprise when we turned a corner to find yoda standing there. We also took a gondola up to to top of a big hill and hiked down the very steep Wilderness Trail, surrounded, the whole while by redwoods, many dating back hundreds of years. The icing on the cake was at the exit, a cross-section of a 1,000-year-old tree.

We found a roadside diner in Klamath sitting next to a field with two emus. Brady and Laura were psyched to have breakfast for lunch! After lunch we took a short walk on the Coastal Trail to the Klamath River Overlook, in underwhelming destination, but with some lovely Pacific views, and one snail sighting.